Former Police Commissioner Roni Alshikh testified today (Tuesday) in the State Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Meron Disaster Investigation
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The members of the committee are Judge Miriam Naor, who serves as the committee's chairman, Maj. Gen. Shlomo Yanai and Rabbi Mordechai Carlitz.
During his testimony, Ashlich noted that he was not surprised by the disaster.
"Operation Meron is the most dangerous operation, with the biggest safety gaps. No one was surprised, we are troubled by this issue year after year."
Judge Naor scolded him in response and asked: "Where is your cry as a commissioner, as a citizen?
Where's the warning that this thing is a time bomb? "
The scene of the disaster in Meron, Photo: David Cohen / Ginny
Naor went on to add: "When you see the gap in the field and the fact that there is no orderly producer, why are you not flooding this issue up?".
Alshikh replied: "Yes, I wrote a letter about it. I raised this issue with the minister and the ministry's spokesman, and I even made it clear that the police will not be able to prepare as required for the event."
The former commissioner went on to say that "in my role, I realized that any change in the plan in Meron could create a problem for us.
I therefore unequivocally announced that they would not contact me about this or that rebbe who was late and wanted to go up the mountain, because I thought that such a disturbance could damage the original planning and damage the event. I understood that the Israel Police's organizational structure Changed. "
A tour of the Meron disaster investigation committee at the Rashbi tomb on the mountain. Archive, Photo: Gil Eliyahu
Yanai referred to the gaps between planning and execution on the ground and asked Alsheikh: "How do you explain that despite all the importance you have explained here about the revelry planning, in the field the police and officers did not know the guidelines and did not act as required?".
Alsheikh replied that "I have not been in office for the past year, but it is important to remember that the police have been greatly weakened in the last two years.
Alsheikh further stated that "I have found that not every police officer in the police knows who his professional staff is and that is a problematic thing, because the staff should evaluate your job professionally and have confidence in your equipment and combat theory, etc. The other insight is that the police organization is biased. "You are in operational activity. That means the power building has been damaged. The planning has been damaged."
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